January 24, 2008
January 23, 2008
January 22, 2008
Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad Layoffs
January 11, 2008. Fourteen artists were laid off today from Family Guy.
The staff had taken its particular script as far as it could. And with no revisions by writers on the immediate horizon, it's off to hiatuses of indeterminate length ...I found these things out when I walked into the studio this morning and talked to FG crew.Lots of stoicism, black humor, and gritted teeth all around. One staffer asked me who I blamed for the long strike. I said: "The AMPTP, mostly. But there's probably blame that can be ladled out on both sides." I brought up, as I usually do, the subject of leverage, and having enough of it to get what you want. (An old theme.)The crews of Guy/Dad are departing at about the same rate .. and pace ... as The Simpsons and King of the Hill staffs over the mountains at Starz Media. Some left in December, others depart in January and February, and the final groups exit in March. An artist scheduled to bail out in March said: "I was lucky enough to get on the last show written before the writers went out. Won't be very many people in here when we finish."
My morning was spent at what used to be the Film Roman studios ... and is today known in many circles as the House of Homer and Marge. Work on The Simpsons series is slowly, steadily winding down ...
As each unit working on its respective show completes that episode's animatic (storyboards on a digital reel), work for those artists is finished, since no revisions can take place without the writers. And so it's layoff time.
The designers told me they have about two weeks left, then it's "adios" until the WGA strike is over. So who's hiring out there?" a couple of artists asked me. I gave them a short list of candidates and wished them good luck.
Naturally I get lots of questions about "how long will it last?" "What's the news?" Sadly, I don't have any. I can speculate with the best of them, but I've got no hot information and am basically as ignorant as a freshly-hatched chick.
Some of the speculation directed my way was how hairy the future work load might be if, at the end of the WGA strike, Simpsons artists have to rush to finish the old, half-completed season while also working on a new order of episodes. "If that happens, it'll be just as crazy for us around here as it was last year, with the feature and series going at the same time."
One director wondered aloud if this might be the one time when TAG writers were happier to be IA than WGA, since at least they're working. I said: "You'd have to ask the writers. Everybody probably has a different opinion."
Courtesy of Steve Hulett at TAG Blog.
January 20, 2008
Comet McNaught Over Chile

Comet McNaught was perhaps the most photogenic comet of our time. After making quite a show in the northern hemisphere in early January, the comet moved south and developed a long and unusual dust tail that dazzled southern hemisphere observers. In this image, Comet McNaught was captured one year ago above Chile. The bright comet dominates on the left while part of its magnificent tail spreads across the entire picture. From this vantage point in the Andes Mountains, one looks up toward Comet McNaught and a magnificent sky, across at a crescent moon, and down on clouds, atmospheric haze, and the city lights of Santiago. Comet McNaught has glided into the outer Solar System and is now only visible as a speck in a large telescope. The other spectacular comet of 2007, Comet Holmes, has also faded from easy view.
Courtesy of Astronomy Picture of the Day
January 19, 2008
TRUE OR FALSE Can you guess which of the following are True and which are false:
2. Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly Button.
3. A pack-a-day smoker will lose approximately 2 teeth every 10 years.
4. People do not get sick from cold weather; it's from being indoors a lot more.
5. When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop, even your heart!
6. Only 7 per cent of the population are lefties.
7. 40 people are sent to the hospital for dog bites every minute.
8. Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until they are 2-6 years old.
9. The average person over 50 will have spent 5 years waiting in lines.
10. The toothbrush was invented in 1498.
11. The average housefly lives for one month.
12. 40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year.
13. A coat hanger is 44 inches long when straightened.
14. The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute.
15. Your feet are bigger in the afternoon than any other time of day.
16. Most of us have eaten a spider in our Sleep.
17. The REAL reason ostriches stick their Head in the sand is to search for water.
18. The only two animals that can see behind themselves with out turning their heads are the rabbit and the parrot.
19. John Travolta turned down the starring Roles in "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Tootsie."
20. Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina State anthem.
21. In most television commercials advertising Milk, a mixture of white paint and a little thinner is used in place of the milk.
22. Prince Charles and Prince William NEVER travel on the same airplane, just in case there is a crash.
23. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle built in 1903 used a tomato can for a carburetor.
24. Most hospitals make money by selling the umbilical cords cut from women who give birth. They are used in vein transplant surgery.
25. Humphrey Bogart was related to Princess Diana. They were 7th cousins.
26. If coloring weren't added to Coca-Cola, It would be green.
Answers in the 'Comments'...
January 18, 2008
Are you in the Animation Industry?
The idea of a non-unionized professional association created by and for animation artists sounds great to me. If you're involved in the animation field in anyway have a look at this - it puts out the concept of an online professional organization for animation artists to join and be more informed about the industry and be up to date on current events, projects, contract, and studios.



















